Not-White Month: Dark Wolverine.

During the period known as the "Dark Reign," Norman Osborn was in charge of all the superhuman activity in America, and was also the leader of his very own team of Avengers. But these Avengers were not heroes, but villains dressed for the part. They were some of the most evil and perverse creatures the world has ever seen. One of them was Daken, the son of Wolverine.

Daken is, like his father, the best there is at what he does. But what he does is not very nice. But unlike his father, he is bad to the bone. He is an evil son of a bitch. Daken has inherited his fathers healing as well as his claws. But he also has a unique ability: Pheromone Control. He can use his pheromones to manipulate the emotional state of those around him, which makes it easier for Daken to manipulate people into doing what he want of them. And Daken is a master in the art of screwing around with people's heads.
So he is strong, practically immortal, can manipulate people like they were dolls, and he is attractive too. He is the uncrowned king of the world, and can do and get whatever he wants without anyone realizing that they are all Daken's servants.
Two problems: A) He easily gets bored. B) He wish to see his father dead. If it wasn't for these two elements, the world would have been his, and no one would notice.

Daken makes bad looks SOOOOO GOOD!!! He is a evil dick, but we cant help it but being on his side as we read about him. He is charismatic as hell, and possibly the only person who can make the mohawk work(someone, fix Storm's hair!!!). But I have to tell you that this series is mainly about psychology, so it's not as action-packed as other titles. Daken is the star of the Wolverine series(which is dubbed Dark Wolverine during the Dark Reign event) starting from issue 75 and ending on issue 90. I highly recommend this series about a guy who has pretty much everything served on a silver-plate, and is yet not satisfied. The TPB "The Prince" collects the first five issues.
I'm Waezi2, and thanks for wasting time with me.

Not-White Month: Adam; Legend Of The Blue Marvel.

I have not seen any of the Underworld movies.But they are apparently a big deal, so I probably have to see it one of these days. Especially now, after reading Kevin Grevioux's (the writer of the Underworld movies) awesome graphic novel; "Adam; Legend Of The Blue Marvel."
The Blue Marvel was the greatest heroes of the 60's... That is, until it was revealed that he was black.
He quickly became VERY unpopular by both the white and black people in the country, and the president had to "ask" him to retire.
Now, 48 years later, one of the Blue Marvel's old enemies known as Anti-Man has pooped out of nowhere, and mopped the floor with the Avengers like they were nothing. Tony Stark must now find the retired Blue Marvel and ask him to once again fight the good fight. But will he actually come back and save a country who spat at him when he saved them?

You may think this is just another story about racism, and granted, it's one of the main element. But it's also a story about a man who has been a prisoner his whole life. He is possibly the most powerful being on the planet, yet his life has for years been dictated, manipulated, and now turned upside down as he discover that few thing he could count on may not be as they seemed. So even though he is offered freedom, can he really let himself be free?
BUT it's still a story about being a colored man. But a pretty damn good one. And even though it was written during a time where Tony Stark was the bad guy because he led the registration act, Grevioux is one of the few writers who manege to write him right. He is not just a rich, better-knowing ass that everyone wants to make him to. In fat, this may be one of the few books where the Mighty Avengers aren't portrayed as "sell-outs."
You could criticize the story for being very preachy, but that would be pointless, since it's suppose to be. But it is preach in the good kind of way, and the story is a real page-turner. Highly recommended.
I'm Waezi2, and thanks for wasting time with me.

Not-White Month: Black Panther vol. 5.

Black Panther is quite possibly one of he most successful not-white superheroes ever made.
... And I know practically nothing about him...
It's not that he doesn't interest me. He just, well, ended up in the bottom of my to-read list, since there was a bunch of other comics I rather wanted to read. That, and that he and his nation Wakanda seemed to me like a bunch of alpha-pricks in the Black Panther cartoon.
But we are not going to talk about T'Challa, but his sister; Shuri.
After T'Challa is killed by Doctor Doom, Wakanda is without a king. A new Panther mus be found to protect the proud nation, and princess Shuri is the best candidate. This is the moment Shuri has waited and trained for her entire life, but is she truly ready to take the mantle as regent?
The series has allot of action. Wakanda is an African nation unspoiled by imperialism, and yet it's successful, highly educated, and rich, but it still has respect for it's myths and religions. It kinda reminds me of the series; The Phantom, which I was raised with. And I love me some Africa-jungle action. So I was a little irritated when Shuri left Wakanda, which meant that allot of the fighting took place outside he jungles. Bummer...
Shuri is stubborn, and prefer to handle her problems by charging at it. In the series, she learns how to be a proper Black Panther, including that no all conflicts can be solved by the use of a spear, as well as a lesson in humility. I had hoped he series would have been longer, so that her character could have slowly fitted into the role as the Panther(like the way Bucky did in Brubaker's awesome Captain America series), but for a only 12 issue long series, it could have been worse. It's actually not bad at all.
AND the series has MANDROIDS!!!

HELL, MOTHER-FRICKING YEAH!!!! I haven't seen one of these babies since New Warriors issue 5!

But besides the awesomeness that is mandroids, this series is definitely worth reading. It's not amazing, but it's pretty good.

I'm Waezi2, and thanks for wasting time with me.

I need YOU to buy New Warriors!

Yeah, I know I'm having a theme month about not white superheroes, but I would like to talk about my favorite superhero team.

As many of you may know, I'm a huge fan of the New Warriors, so I am of coarse sad now that I have recently learned that it will be canceled pretty soon.

BUT IT'S NO TOO LATE!!! WE CAN SAVE IT!!!

Go, RIGHT NOW, and buy Yost awesome series. Do NOT read it online for free, buy the actual thing.

What's that? You can't, because you need the money to get bread on the table? Well, too bad! Life is tough all around! And so what if you already bought the series?! Buy nine copies of every issue!!!

And if the book SOMEHOW should be saved, I promise to make a video where I will reveal what I look like without glasses.

I'm Waezi2, and thanks for wasting time with me.

Not-White Month: Godzilla VS Barkley.

I know what your thinking: "Hey, Barkley ain't no superhero!"

But, he IS a famous basketball player, and honestly: superheroes and sport-stars has allot in common. Like, they are superior to us physically, they are admired and idolized by millions of people, they can get away with stuff that would send a regular Joe to jail, and they can grow 300 feet tall.

Well, Charles Barkley can, anyway...

This comic is about Charles Barkley having a game of b-ball with Godzilla. WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW!?!? GO BUY IT ALREADY!!!

Have really have to disagree with my fellow comic-book reviewer Linkara, who claims that this comic sucks. This comic delivers exactly what it promise: a bucket full of stupid. And as a huge fan of stupid, I am lucky to have this crown jewel of dumb in my bookshelf. Or though, the dialog could have been better, but it's a minor problem. The artwork is pretty good, and the cover is even better. I will admit that I'm disappointed over the comic not being an actual fight to the death between the two glorious titans, but hey, se la vie.

I seriously dont get why there aren't more comic-book about sports-stars fighting monsters and stuff like that. I would gladly buy a issue with "Galactus VS Tiger Woods." I'm dead serious.

I'm Waezi2, and thanks for wasting time with me.

Not-White Month: Blue Beetle.

Have you ever read a comic, and thought for yourself: "Dying is the best thing that ever happen to this guy"?

It cant be denied that a dramatic death can sometimes boost a characters popularity, or at least make people aware of the fact that they, you know, exist. And Ted Kord might be a prime example of this.

After his many years of service in the JLI, Ted was pretty much forgotten, or thought of as "that silly guy." He was, if I'm not wrong, once one of Barbara Gordon's agents for a time(which makes him the only male member of the Birds Of Prey), but that ended when he had a heart attack.

But he recovered from it, was back in action again, and then...

.... Yeah... that happened...

I actually sort of like "Countdown To Infinite Crisis" despite the fact that it made Max Lord a bad guy. Ted died, but at least he died as what he is: a hero. And he was even in character. But I still think that it's too bad that a guy has to get shot through the head before he gets the respect he deserves. And even though he has been retconed out of existence thanks to New 52, he still lives on in the heart of all comic-lovers, as well as his heir; Jaime Reyes.

After getting fused with the blue scarab that gave Dan Garret(the first Blue Beetle) superhuman strength. But instead of that, Jaime gets an intelligent high-tech armor.

I wouldn't say that Jaime's series was perfect, because that would be a lie. But it's very creative, and has allot of great ideas, but not all of them are used to their fullest, like the team(or street gang is probably more accurate) known as the Posse, who cold have a series of their own, if you ask me.

Besides Jaime's awesome design, the books greatest strength is possibly the supportive cast. Besides his best friends Brenda and Paco, Jaime also finds a sort-of mentor in the bad-ass Peacemaker, one of the first Beetle's old colleges. My favorite characters in the series has to be Hector and Nadia, two computer nerds who works as Jaime's tech support. They honestly dont do that much in the series, but I really dig them.

The series doesn't create many memorable villains, but it does have one of the best aliens-who-wants-our-planets of all times: The Reach. Their plan to conquer the planet is simple: they wait. By poisoning our water and air, they do not have to take the planet by force, because we will(after being poisoned for 100 years) simply hand it over to them with a smile. Is that genius or what?

Blue Beetle vol. 7 is a colorful, action-packed and fun read. The first TPB is named "Shellshocked," but you can start with Road Trip, if you cannot find it. You honestly dont miss that much. I started reading the series with "Road Trip," since I could not find "Shellshocked" to begin with.

That's all for now. I'm Waezi2, and thanks for wasting time with me.

Not-White Month: Night Thrasher: Four Control.

Today, we are going to talk about possibly one of the least appreciated superheroes ever: Night Thrasher. Allot of people think of this guy as a lame Batman-ripoff, and to a degree, he kinda is. He is a multimillionaire who swore to avenge his parents by fighting criminals. But besides that, there are plenty of differences between him and Batman. Night Thrasher wears a very advanced armor, he is much more hot-headed, he uses a skateboard(Shut up! It's NOT lame!) and most importantly of all: he didn't fight crime alone. He realized that if he should stand a chance in a world full of super-humans and AIM technology, he had to gather allies, so he formed the New Warriors, my favorite superhero team (you can read about the New Warriors HERE). But this series is actually about Thrasher working alone. He has taken a leave of absence from the Warriors to get a hold of his at the moment very chaotic life, after learning that his company has been corrupted for years by his old sensei Tai, who by the way is also the murderer of his parents(long story). But it's not going to be a holiday for Thrash, for someone has kidnapped his legal guardian Chord. And just to make maters worse, Chord is in need surgery in less than three days, or he will die.

The kidnapper is most likely someone who wants to gain control over the Taylor Foundation (a conglomeration of financial intuitions, owned by Thrash) which leave the board-members of the Taylor Foundation as the prime suspects.

This is a spin-off series of the New Warriors VOL 1, so you will probably enjoy it a lot more if you have read the New Warriors series first, since there is a lot of referring to past events. The first issue is pretty average, but besides that, it's an all in all well told story. It's enjoyable to see Thrash move away from being an angsty, hot-tempered Punisher-wannabee, and that he finally becomes an adult with control over his life.

The art is gritty, but not in a bad way, and we have a lot of action. My favorite issue must be issue three, where Thrash must face the super-powered corporate-shark Gideon, both in combat as well as the financial world.

If you are a fan of Nicieza's run on New Warriors, or you just want to read about a ass-kicking guy in an awesome battle-armor full of gadgets, then this is a must-have.
That's all for now. I'm Waezi2, and thanks for wasting time with me.

Not-White Month: Pak's War Machine.

War Machine is one of those characters I really wanted to read about, but just haven't found any books with yet. I know where I can find him, but my economy doesn't allow me to buy too many comics, and I usually buy stuff I can find cheep. But recently, I managed to find two TPB collecting the 12 issue long War Machine series written by Greg Pak, the man behind Incredible Hercules, Alpha Flight and Chaos War.

The series takes placed during the Dark Reign period, where Norman Osborn is pretty much in charge of the entire country. The world has become a darker place, and Rhodey has become darker, too.

You see, after half of his body was blown to kingdom come, he has been transformed into an ACTUAL war-machine by his friend Tony Stark. With a computer as brain, Rhodey can now access data from all over the globe, and see all evil there is. Now, more machine than man, Rhodey is stone cold, and decides to, and I quote: kill the %$#& out of all the evil men on Earth.
... So, he is kind-of a high-tech Punisher ripoff... Yay?

I have mixed feelings about this series. You see, this comic is pretty much, well... a Transformers movie. Not that it's a bad thing per se, but still, it's a Transformers movie, for both good and ill. It has allot of action, Rhodey's technopathy-powers are used to it's fullest, AND Ares is in it, too, kicking tons of ass, as well as declaring that War Machine is is his champion of war(which makes Rhodey realize how @#%& up he is).
BUT it's also very chaotic, loud, and then ending of the series feels kinda like a letdown. And I'm not too keen on the art. And really, Osborn is a villain for Rhodey to fight? REALLY?! Osborn apparently has this superpower during the Dark Reign, that he can fight with ALL the heroes in the Marvel U pretty much at the same time. HE IS IN CHARGE OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY'S SECURITY, HE DOESN'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!!! Seriously, they should have made Ares the sort-of villain. THAT could have been interesting.
But, it's a nice little action-flick. The ending is kinda meek, but hey, it has some awesome stuff, like Ares and War Machine having a "Hero(?) fight hero, then team up," as well as a West Coast Avengers reunion. But it's by far one of Pak's weaker stories. Loved the first 5 issues, though, collected in the TPB "Iron Heart."
That's all for now. I'm Waezi2, and thanks for wasting time with me.

Not-White Month: Dixon's Green Arrow series.

Welcome to the first review of "Not-White Month," where we shall take a look at a couple of series about superheroes, who aren't Caucasian. Because, even though there are a couple of not-white heroes with a solo-title(like the new Ghost Rider and Ms Marvel) it's the white guys who has dominated the marked  for YEARS, and colored superheroes is mostly part of team-books. We shall start the month with my third favorite comic-series of all time; Chuck Dixon's Green Arrow.
Before we talk about Dixon's awesome run, let's talk a little about Oliver Queen.

In the late 80's and early 90's, Ollie had become a rather dark character. Ollie stopped using trick-arrows, and started to KILL criminals in cold blood. He also grew distant from Black Cannery, and their relationship ended when he kissed his secretary(which both comic readers and writers STILL make such a big deal out of. IT WAS ONE KISS, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!). Ollie grew more and more self-destructive, and after killing Hal Jordan(long story) he decided to stop the violence, and join a Buddhist monastery, hoping to find inner peace.

And that's where Connor Hawke steps into the picture.

In the ashram, Ollie meets a young monk called Connor, who apparently is his biggest fan. He has a scrapbook full with newspaper pages about his many adventures, and he absolutely idolize the Emerald Archer.They became good friends, and Ollie taught the boy everything he knew about archery, and told him stories from his golden days as hero. Unfortunately, Ollie couldn't stay in his little paradise of none-violence, since the government was after him. Because, HEY, it was the 90's, where the government was big, bad and evil. Ollie left, but this time with a new traveling companion, the young Connor. They both took the name Green Arrow, and fought together to find out who wanted Ollie dead, and why.

... AAAAAND then Hal, who BTW weren't dead, screwed it up by revealing to Ollie, that Connor was actually his son. Ollie was pissed over being lied to, and felt betrayed(and I know that it was retconned into that he always knew he had a son, and I dont care), and told Connor to stay the #@%& out of his life.

And then he blew up, before they could make peace... Ouch...

Connor decided to live where his dad died, both as a way to honor his memory, but also as a sort of spiritual journey. If he couldn't meet the man, he could learn who he was by doing his craft. And that was the start of the second Green Arrow's era.

After Ollies death, Chuck Dixon(writer of such great series as Robin, Nightwing, The Bitch Patrol Birds Of Prey, Batgirl: Year One, and a couple of Simpsons Comics) took over the title and filled the before so dark and gritty series with allot of fun, adventures, and all the good stuff comics should have. And he made Connor into a very interesting character to read about. You see, Connor has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in common with his dad! Ollie was a loudmouthed, rude hot-head, but Connor was polite, calm, and an all-around nice guy. He could kick your ass without breaking a sweet, and be polite about it at the same time. And that's another thing: Connor was a master in hand-to-hand combat. Sure, he was a good marksman too, but he didn't use as many arrows as his father, and just regular ones. Connor was more of a simple-solution kind of guy, and did just fine with an arrow and good aim.

And what goes for the ladies, well... Just take a look at this classic page from issue 106:

DUDE!!!

Event though Connor has inherited his father's charm on the ladies, he is unable to notice if he is attracted to them or not. He wasnt even gay, itt was just that being raised in a monastery for the most of his life, he has never thought much about the opposite gender, and to him, attractive women are just... well, people. But that didn't stop the ladies from finding him attractive... Lucky bastard... Literately...

Unlike many superheroes, Connor didn't have a specific town in which he operated, but instead traveled around the globe, looking for adventures and injustice to fight. With him, he had Ollie's old friend, Eddie Fyers as traveling companion. Eddie was a gun-wielding, chain-smoking ex-CIA agent, and unlike Connor, he had no problem with lethal force at all. They were an odd couple, but he ended up being Connor's mentor, since Ollie had made him promise to look after Connor if anything should happen to him.

Connor's solo career starts in issue 102 of the VOL 2 series, and I highly recommend it. The series haven't been collected in TPB, I'm sad to inform, but it shouldnt be to difficult to find the issues on sites like Ebay. There is a book collecting the mini-series called "Connor Hawke; Dragons Blood," also written by Dixon.
That's all for now. Next time, we shall take a look at Greg Pak's War Machine series.
I'm Waezi2, and thanks for wasting time with me.